Page 291 - Friedman Archives

AF w Shutter 291

1) Once focus has been achieved, you can switch the camera to Manual
Focus (using the Focus Mode knob). This works irrespective of the
status of the “AF with Shutter” setting.
2) Once focus has been achieved, you can switch the camera to Manual
Focus by using the AF/MF button on the back of the camera. (For this
to be truly helpful you’ll have to set MENU  6  Custom Key
Settings  AF/MF Button  AF/MF control toggle so that this
switch toggles instead of being a momentary button.) This too works
irrespective of the “AF with Shutter” setting.
3) You can perform a useful twist on option 2) above by setting the focus
mode to Manual (MF) and setting the AF/MF switch to momentary
(MENU  6  Custom Key Setting  AF/MF button 
AF/MF Control Hold, which is the factory default). In this
configuration, the camera is always in manual focus mode. Should
you need to focus, however, just press the AF/MF button, which puts
the camera into AF mode momentarily until you release it. Then
shoot away until you need to autofocus again. (A very handy
configuration I use all the time in the studio!) Like the first two
options, this works regardless of what the “AF with Shutter” is set to.
4) With the “AF with Shutter” option set to OFF, you can split the
responsibility of focusing and shooting to two separate buttons. Use
the center of the joystick to AF using the center focusing point, then
take the picture using the shutter release. Once you achieve focus, you
don’t have to keep holding the multi-selector in -- the focusing will
stay put until you press it again. For many years (like when I shot
with film using the Minolta Maxxum 9) this was the preferred way for
me to work.
So that’s what the setting is for. AF with Shutter simply allows you to
decouple autofocusing and taking of the picture (which normally are
assigned to the same button). Personally, whenever I’m in the studio, I use
technique #3 above to decouple AF with the shutter release, and therefore
never have to bother with setting “AF with Shutter” to OFF.